Regionally Aligned Forces and Megacities
Abstract
Regionally Aligned Forces, while providing useful tactical capabilities like cultural and language familiarity, are inadequate for developing comprehensive information about megacity environments. Further, when megacities are considered as complex, adaptive systems, the limitations of comprehensive knowledge reveal themselves. Emergent events that have significant impact on the operational environment are plain only in hindsight, causally linked to the interactions between interdependent agents and populations in the city. Though RAF are not the primary solution to understanding megacities, they do represent the mindset of human engagement that will be required to discern the relationships between key actors in the environment. Gaps in professional knowledge of megacity environments could be addressed through officer education and fellowship programs, while tactical issues and technological development can be resolved in existing or accessible training sites. The method used is controlled comparison of three different developing megacity environments: Lagos, Karachi, and Cairo. These three environments readily demonstrate the complexity, scale, and depth of megacity environments and the challenges inherent in addressing them with Regionally Aligned Forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1001897
Entities
People
- John Ii D. Thomason
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College